Reborn
by 1000 Words To Be Said
Summary: 'I don't want to die.' She struggled against the creature's hold on her, screaming as loud as she could. She even tried biting the monster's hand, hoping the unexpected pain would surprise it enough to drop her. It didn't. Desperation enveloped her as she bit down harder, only releasing the flesh to emit a scream louder than any she had ever let out. "I WANT TO LIVE!"


"An!"

"Yeah?"

"Come here, will you?"

The brunette rolled her eyes, lifting herself off of her bed and reluctantly trudging to the kitchen where her mother stood at the stove, donned in a fluffy, cerulean apron that had "World's Best Mom!" written in cursive on the front of it. Mrs. Demetriou glanced over her shoulder at her daughter before motioning with her hand towards the gas stove.

"Anastasia, I need you to stir this for me while I go make a phone call."

"'Kay."

It was a monotonous task for her, as was everything in Anastasia Demetriou's eyes. Waking up, eating, attending school, completing assignments, eating again, and sleeping – each day was the same as the last, and she hated it. She loved her parents, but even being around them bored her. They asked her about the same things, talked to each other about the same things, and told her to do the same things day in and day out; recently she found herself unable to act like she cared. Her parents noticed the change no doubt, but obviously they weren't going to address it. _They probably have it labeled as just another teenage thing in their minds. Of _course_ they would._

"An?"

Anastasia turned her head to gaze at her mother with questioning chocolate-colored orbs that held nothing but pure, unmasked boredom. She could tell her mother was second-guessing what she was about to say next because the older woman was pursing her lips and playing with her fingers like she always did when An – or anyone for that matter – made her uncomfortable. In the end Mrs. Demetriou appeared to decide to just go ahead and say what she had planned originally, her expression firm.

"I know you just got home from school, dear, but I need you to run down the street to the store and grab us another bag of potatoes. You can grab some gum while you're there, too, if you'd like," The woman whose features greatly resembled Anastasia's smiled as she took over the stirring of the soup on the stove once more. "But hurry home, alright? Dinner will be ready soon."

The teen felt slight annoyance at the thought of having to walk all the way to the store and back (really only a fifteen minute trip all together), though she didn't argue with Mrs. Demetriou. She didn't see the point. Her boredom was a formidable struggle for her – just not formidable enough for her to provoke others just to be entertained.

The trip to the store was relatively uneventful, and the same went for the task Anastasia's mother had given her. The potatoes and her pack of gum were quickly obtained while she continued to contemplate why her life was so boring and why she never experienced anything even remotely exciting. _Can't I have my own sort of adventure? Or at least let something out of the usual routine happen._ The brunette glanced at the male in front of her waiting in line for the cashier._ I'd be happy with a simple chance encounter with a stranger._

Anastasia decided she never wanted to have an encounter with a stranger ever again after what came next.

The young man who she stood behind pulled out a gun, shooting several rounds into the ceiling and screaming for everyone to get down on the floor. Anastasia dropped to the floor like an anchor and covered her ears with her hands, holding back her cries as her eyes watered. A few others who An assumed were his accomplices joined him, faces completely exposed as they muttered at each other probably about what to do next seeing as everyone had cooperated thus far. It was a stupid move, she thought, leaving their faces available for anyone's and everyone's eyes. They might get out of the store cleanly, but they would easily be caught.

Her eyes searched the store's surroundings for some way of defending herself. Obviously all the other customers and employees were too scared to do anything; someone would have made a move by now if they intended to. In the end, Anastasia settled on a frying pan laying forgotten on the floor to her left, carefully snatching it up before any of the criminals could notice. She watched them cautiously as a few of them appeared to get more heated than the others, nearly talking loud enough for her to hear them, but not quite. The man who had stood in front of her motioned towards her, immediately causing panic to rise rapidly in Anastasia's chest. Had he seen her grab the pan? But she had been careful! What was he planning?

It all happened so fast. One of the men – one of the more heated men, in fact, grabbed hold of the back of her shirt, dragging Anastasia to her feet without giving her chance to understand what was happening. Her body just seemed to go into fight or flight mode at that point and chose to do a bit of both as the frying pan came into contact with the criminal's head, a loud _crack_ echoing through the quiet of the grocery store as the hostages looked at her with horror written clearly across their faces. Her feet slapped against the tiled floor as she made her way to the exit, heart racing a mile per second along with her mind. She had to get out of the store, she had to call the police, she had to live—

Anastasia fell to the floor suddenly, and it took her several disoriented moments for her to realize what had happened to her to make her fall over without warning. Her fingers pressed against the blossoming pain in her stomach, the area leaving her fingers coated in a shiny crimson when she pulled them away. No words managed to make it past her lips before she felt herself slump over on the chilly tiles.

She could hear the men panicking and arguing. No one was supposed to be shot – the gun wasn't supposed to even be loaded. It was supposed to be a clever bluff used to get what they needed from the store and its registers before high-tailing it out of there. If Anastasia had the strength, she would have torn into them without a second thought. If they were going to rob a store, they should have been more careful. Now she was probably going to die before she even had her sixteenth birthday.

This wasn't the sort of excitement she had wanted. No, not at all. If this was what it meant to experience excitement, Anastasia didn't want it.

_I don't want to die._

"What the fuck do we do now, man? She's bleeding out all over the floor!"

_I wish I was home._

"Do you _know_ what's going to happen to us if she dies here?"

_I'm so scared._

"**This is what you wanted, isn't it?"**

The voice startled her, though she couldn't show it. Her misty eyes struggled to look around the room to see who had said those words to her. Was she hallucinating? Those men were still arguing, so it couldn't be them.

"**I'm not one of those unfortunate souls, child. I'm not a person at all."**

Fear shot through her much like the bullet that pierced her stomach. _What are you then?_

"**A spirit of sorts. Don't worry too much about it."**

She couldn't relax, though. _Why are you speaking to me now? Are you here to take me to the other side?_ But Anastasia didn't want to go, she _couldn't _go, not yet.

"**You could say that. More so I'm here to teach you a lesson, child."**

Lesson? What kind of lesson? The fifteen-year-old could feel the rage bubbling up inside her as her mind clicked together the pieces. _Did you do this?_

The voice chuckled at her. **"Oh, no. This is fate, Anastasia. You were meant to be in this store today. You were meant to pick up that frying pan. You were meant to run away from those men.**

_Was I supposed to be shot?_

"**Now, **_**that **_**I did play a hand in. Those men were so easily riled up."**

Anastasia felt sick. And cold. She could feel herself slipping away, the darkness slowly beginning to consume her. _Why? Why would you do that?_

"**Because you're an ungrateful brat,"** the voice replied sharply. **"You don't appreciate the life you have lived thus far. You have parents who truly care about you and do their best to provide for you. You have kind friends willing to be there for you in times of need. You live in a nice house with nice things. Despite all of this, you are dissatisfied, and for what reason? It's all just too boring for you."**

Several seconds passed before the brunette could speak again, her voice sounding very small and timid. _Am I going to die?_

"**Perhaps. If not in this life, then quite possibly in the one you'll be living next."**

_What do you mean by that?_ It made no sense. What next life?

"**You'll see. This is all part of the lesson I'm teaching you. You will surely come to appreciate your 'boring' life after what you're about to experience."**

She wanted to refuse to go along with the lesson the voice was speaking about; Anastasia could appreciate her boring life well enough now, she was sure, and she was so scared. This other life the voice spoke about seemed like it wasn't going to be nearly as easy as the one she had been leading until now.

"**That's because it won't be. And a piece of advice? If you hear loud thumping and crunching, if you feel vibrations, run."**

It was then that Anastasia felt herself slip away, embraced by the darkness and silence.

**…..**

Chocolate-colored orbs reddened by tears fluttered open, blearily taking in their surroundings. Nothing was recognizable to the disoriented girl. The buildings around her looked nothing like the ones she was used to – they didn't even look like they belonged in her time period much less her town. Many of the buildings were also partially destroyed, large pieces of debris covering the ground. Anastasia shakily got to her feet and tried to figure out what she was doing there. _I was getting potatoes for Mom…_ Her brow furrowed as her head began to ache. _And then I—_

The ground began to tremble as a loud rumbling and crunching echoed in the previous quiet of the area. Anastasia's eyes glanced from place to place, trying to discern where the noise was coming from. Her heart was racing for some reason unknown to her.

"_**And a piece of advice? If you hear loud thumping and crunching, if you feel vibrations, run."**_

Everything came rushing back. The store, the man with the gun and his buddies, her gunshot wound, the voice—

As if the Devil himself were after, the young Demetriou turned away from the direction the rumbling was coming from and ran. Her lungs began to burn not too long after, her leg muscles straining to keep going, but she pushed herself to keep running. She wasn't about to die in this life, not when her parents were waiting for her back home.

It felt like she had barely made any progress since she started running. Anastasia glanced down at her stomach, wondering if her wound was still there, and found that her legs were much shorter than they had been before, and that her clothes were not the clothes she had been wearing when she was shot. A sandy brown skirt rested around her hips while a cream-colored shirt covered her torso, tan boots protecting her feet from the rubble-covered earth. She glanced at her hands worriedly, and they, too, were tiny compared to their previous size.

Her mind was knocked back into the current situation when she tripped, scraping the palms of her hands and dirtying her clothes. She glanced behind her to see what she tripped over and nearly threw up right there. _Oh my God. _Her vision blurred as tears sprang to her eyes. _Where's the other half of him? What… _

She couldn't stand to look anymore, scrambling to her feet and rushing towards the sounds of a large crowd. Surely if she got to where there were people, she would be safe from whatever it was that had destroyed this town, city, or whatever it was.

"Let us on!"

"The titans are going to get here soon!"

"I don't want to die, please!"

Confusion and fear struck Anastasia when she found the people she had been looking for. What was going on? What had these people so frightened?

"IT'S ONE OF THEM!"

The brunette whipped around to look behind her, suddenly realizing that the rumbling had become impossibly loud before stopping right behind her. Her eyes widened as she stood there, temporarily frozen by the image of a creature that appeared human but wasn't. It was taller than the buildings surrounding it, umber, matted locks falling sloppily around its face that seemed to be eternally set in a frown. It was naked and possibly male, but there was nothing to give a definite answer to that; where there should have been a defining answer, there wasn't. No, this thing wasn't human.

When the creature finally moved, Anastasia sprinted away from the area, abandoning the idea of there being safety in numbers. Obviously with a predator that huge, there would be more safety by herself than with others.

Except there hadn't been any safety in being alone, either.

She encountered another creature, this one with a straight face but teeth that were on clear display. It was staring her down, simply watching her as Anastasia stood stock-still. Her legs wouldn't move. She couldn't make them. Fear had too strong a hold on her body.

_I'm going to die._

An enormous hand picked her up, nearly crushing her bones with its tight grip.

_I'm going to die here, and I'm probably dead back home, too. _

The hand brought her to a stop in front of the onyx-haired creature's mouth. The giant eyes sent chills down her spine as she gasped for breath.

_I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry._

It opened its mouth, bringing her closer to the gaping cavity.

_I don't want to die._

Tears streamed down her cheeks as her vocal chords along with the rest of her body finally began to work again. She struggled against the creature's hold on her, screaming as loud as she could. She even tried biting the monster's hand, hoping the unexpected pain would surprise it enough to drop her. It didn't; the creature only tightened its grip. Desperation enveloped her as she bit down harder, only releasing the flesh to emit a scream louder than any she had ever let out.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

She didn't.

Anastasia wasn't sure what happened, but she felt the creature let go of her all together. She was plummeting towards the ground at an alarming rate, limbs flailing about. Out of the corner of her eye Anastasia could see the human-like monster falling to the ground, causing her heart to nearly leap out of her chest. Was it dead? What had killed it?

Arms caught her with little effort, sailing both Anastasia and the arms' owner through the air and towards a wall – one Anastasia had failed to notice – that towered over everything else. She clung to who she assumed to be her savior, chest still rising and falling rapidly while her whole body trembled. They made it to the top of the wall where she was set down, though her legs crumbled beneath her as soon as she was. Her eyes rose to the person who had saved her and dropped to their knees to check her over for injuries and found a female, brunette and bespectacled. Her brow was furrowed in concentration and concern as her eyes raked over Anastasia's body carefully, mouth set in a frown. The young girl could feel her own eyes begin to mist over with tears again.

The woman reminded her of her mother.

"Are you—"

Her savior didn't bother finishing her question. While Anastasia didn't have any serious external injuries, it was clear that the girl was anything but okay. The woman offered a comforting smile as she placed a hand on each of Anastasia's shoulders.

"Hey, hey, don't cry, kiddo. You're safe now. Those titans can't get you anymore."

But Anastasia couldn't stop crying. She wanted her mother so badly. She wanted her father to be there. She wanted them both, and that wasn't going to happen. Not now.

The woman seemed to understand that, though of course she didn't understand the actual situation the crying girl was in. Anastasia was sure that if she were to tell the woman, her savior would think the trauma of nearly being eaten had driven her crazy. So she didn't say a word and let the lady believe what she wanted to. It was the best option.

"You know, you were really brave," the woman began, standing and offering her hand which Anastasia took, lifting herself up on her wobbly legs. "I don't think I've even seen a soldier struggle like that before, going so far as to bite a titan. That was amazing."

"I didn't want to die." The young Demetriou sniffled, keeping her gaze trained on the ground as they walked along the wall. She didn't believe it was amazing; she had been desperate, willing to do anything at that point to live.

The soldier smiled down at Anastasia. "That will to live of yours is really something," she stopped walking for a moment. "What's your name?"

"Anastasia," her voice sounded hoarse now, probably from her earlier act of screaming. "Anastasia Demetriou."

"I'm Hange. It's nice to meet you, Anastasia." Hange grinned at her before letting go of Anastasia's hand and kneeling down in front of her. "Now what do you say about climbing on my back? We'll get where we need to be a lot faster if you do."

Anastasia didn't protest against the idea and climbed onto Hange's back as her crying slowed down. She wasn't sure what would happen next, but she would trust this woman to help her until she could figure something out.

She could feel herself drifting off as Hange ran along the top of the wall, her steady breathing lulling the young girl nearly to sleep. Her mind jumped from thought to thought as Anastasia struggled to remain awake. What would she do now? How was she supposed to get home? Where was she? How had Hange killed that "titan?" Anastasia had so many questions and little to no answers. She supposed over time she would find out what she wanted to know, but she was scared. What was she going to do on her own? She knew no one other than Hange, and the brunette doubted that the older woman would just take in a child she hardly knew.

For the first time in Anastasia's once-boring life, she was utterly alone.

* * *

><p>I loved writing this so much, guys. My gosh. I have three ideas jumping around for this anime, and Anastasia's story won over the other two because man, I really wanted to write a good "girl gets transported into an anime" story. Though this isn't the classic situation where the girl knows all about the anime and its events; really if I make it so that An realizes she's in the SnK universe, she won't know a darn thing about the storyline aside from maybe knowing about Eren's special ability (because I'm sure a lot of people have found out what he can do later on in the series before they even watch the show). But there's also the possibility that I'll make it so that she isn't in an anime but just an alternate universe, so we'll just see.<p>

Thanks for reading you lovely, wonderful people~ I really hope you enjoyed this introductory chapter, and I'll see you next update!

~ 1000WTBS


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